An Eaglehawk woman has been forced from her home and a man is under police guard in hospital after a car crashed into a house overnight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bendigo Sergeant Mark Bell said the car was travelling at a fast rate of speed when it left the road, became airborne and crashed into the house where Upper California Gully Road meets McCormacks Road, in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Noeline Keogh was at the home at the time with her 10-year-old grandson and her brother, Ray.
They were uninjured, but the house has sustained significant damage and Mrs Keogh cannot stay in it at the present time.
It was a lucky escape for Mrs Keogh - she was asleep at the time of the crash, but had earlier thought of going out to the lounge room to watch television.
If she had, she would have been sitting right in the car's path.
"Lucky I didn't, or I would have been mincemeat," Mrs Keogh said.
More local news: Sergeant calls time after 39 years of service
Mrs Keogh said she did not have insurance on her house: after losing her husband last year, she had been unable to afford both the mortgage and insurance payments.
She had also recently been battling serious illness and said was just "trying to get back on track".
She had been planning on selling the house before this morning's incident.
The driver, a 25-year-old man, is under police guard in hospital but is expected to be released on Saturday.
Mrs Keogh said she brought the man into her house and tried to sit him down, but he fled.
Police apprehended him a short distance away.
Sergeant Bell said alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash.
It was not the first time Mrs Keogh has experienced something of this sort - about 18 months ago, she said, a car crashed into her carport.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.